ARLINGTON, Texas — Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia hit solo home runs in the sixth inning, capping a day that started with the return of ace Jacob deGrom, and the Texas Rangers outlasted the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Sunday.
The homers came after Boston scored twice in the top of the inning off Texas’ bullpen to spoil deGrom’s first start of the season. DeGrom allowed two hits in five shutout innings and was lifted after nearing his pitch count at 73.
“Really good slider and fastball, used the changeup well today,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said of deGrom. “A good start by Jacob. He got us to where we were hoping. Really terrific job today.”
DeGrom, a free agent signee from the New York Mets who secured a five-year, $185 million deal heading into the 2023 season, made just his 11th start with Texas. But as expectations have risen for a club that disappointed last year after winning the World Series in 2023, deGrom was his normal self against a potent Red Sox lineup.
“I wanted to go deeper knowing that the bullpen was taxed last night,” deGrom said in referring to Saturday’s win over the Red Sox.
The offense made sure deGrom’s exit wasn’t damaging. Langford’s opposite-field homer off rookie Richard Fitts (0-1) barely cleared the wall in the right-field corner. Two batters later, Garcia blasted an 0-2 sweeper into the second deck in left field.
The Red Sox scored twice in the sixth inning off Shawn Armstrong (1-0), one run unearned, to take the lead. Wilyer Abreu hit a two-out, 0-2 opposite-field double into the left-field corner to score Kristian Campbell and came around when Rangers third baseman Ezequiel Duran threw low to first base.
Texas took a 1-0 lead in the second, loading the bases on singles on four pitches, followed by Duran’s sacrifice fly — on a sliding grab by Jarren Duran — to score Jake Burger.
Fitts gave up three runs on six hits with no walks over six innings.
Luke Jackson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his second save in two opportunities.
The Rangers won three straight after dropping the series opener, and in doing so, they extended the frustration of Red Sox star Rafael Devers. The designated hitter went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a walk Sunday, and completed the series 0-for-16 with 12 strikeouts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
